Honk is a new Mobile app that has graced the Biggest Movers list. It has risen over 900 spots on the App Store in the past day. 

Honk provides a  more interactive messaging experience. Reminiscent of instant messenger, it is targeted towards the Gen Zs on social media. It gives a real-time experience, only showing messages live as you type. There is no chat history and no send button.  The intended result is to give a more present feeling to a conversation. It also lets you “Honk” via notification to get someone’s attention.

The app shows you typing in real-time the inclusion of pauses and typos gives a more in-person feel than a regular text conversation. The “live typing” seems like the next step after Snapchat and Instagram’s disappearing chats.

What is interesting about their marketing is that they have used TikTok and “meme” ads to get downloads. 

honk reviews

One of their more viral ads starts by showing the features of Honk with a voiceover and then the chat starts spamming the word “Monke” pronouncing it “Monkey” this sort of absurdist humor is popular on the app and has garnered the attention of their intended audience.

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The ad is here on TikTok. Honk puts their ads on this platform for a few purposes. Firstly, the ads show the app usage. Secondly, the ads follow Tiktok trends. This can make them go viral and be downloaded. 

It seems to be an effective tactic as the app has only been advertising on this singular platform for about 6 days and has already reached the 22nd spot in the Free Social Networking Category and 385th in the Overall Free. 

honk category ranking history

It will be interesting to see if after some time the app expands its advertising platforms to Instagram and Facebook or any others, or if it will remain on TikTok alone. Sign up for a demo If you want to keep track of this app’s growth and monitor its progress. You can also see the biggest movers list to spot any other rising stars and their marketing strategies